'Suits' Season 5, Episode 10 Recap: 'Faith'

From the greats to the not so greats, every television show makes some kind of deal with its audience – especially if they’re serialized. Walter will die. Mulder will find proof of aliens. The island’s mysteries will be revealed. And while some are better at making good on this promise than others, the one thing that’s certain is the worst thing a show can do is not make good at all… but that doesn’t mean there’s only one way to do it. There’s no rule that says the promise can only be made good on in a series finale, which is even truer now, in a post-Mr. Robot world (the promise – that of an answer to who Mr. Robot is to Elliot – came in the 9th episode of the series). The promise can be made good on whenever the show deems it fit, and for Suits, that time is now.

Since its beginning, the promise of Suits was that, one day, Mike’s secret would come out in a way he couldn’t undo. Some believed this time was when Jessica learned of it at the end of season one. Then, some believed it was when Louis learned of it in the middle of last season. However, the real time is now. This time, Mike isn’t at risk of termination. He’s at risk of a prison sentence. Of course, there are some that may choose to live in a state of disbelief that Mike’s actually being arrested for that secret. Certain viewers may be quick to point out that the men that arrested Mike arrested him for conspiracy to commit fraud, not fraud itself. Why would they do that if they knew he was, in fact, committing fraud? Well, that’s where we must play the speculation game.

The theory that seems most fitting, based on the scene that comes right before the arrest, is that Jessica sold Mike out for some currently undisclosed reason. Sure, fans may find themselves divided on that theory when there currently doesn’t seem to be any reason for her to do this, but the reasoning could just be as simple as, after having someone already threaten to undo everything she’s worked for once, she doesn’t want to be taking anymore unnecessary risks. But, that then brings us back to the question of Mikes “conspiracy” arrest.

At a base level, criminal conspiracy requires two people to commit a crime or perpetrate an illegal act. So, if Mike’s being arrested for conspiracy, who’s the second person? Who else could it be that knows of his secret? We didn’t see Louis or Harvey or Donna being escorted down the hallway in handcuffs. Perhaps it could have been Claire suffering from a crisis of conscience – or threat by some law men we haven’t met yet - but, again, it seems that would have led to more of a straight fraud charge than a conspiracy charge. Ultimately, this is when the idea of the episode being a mid-season finale comes into play. These are questions we aren’t going to get answers to until the first quarter of next year.

It would be a shame to see the writers take such a big turn only to undo it all by saying, “well, he wasn’t under arrest for that fraud, so it’s okay.” Ultimately, it really is time for this part of the Suits journey to come to a close. Mike’s secret can only crop up so many times before it starts losing its impact, and how much worse can it get than, “it’s threatening the sanctity of his and Rachel’s personal life?” If there was a time for Suits to make good on its promise to the audience, it was now, and there’s no reason to not be happy it did.